The Duchess of Edinburgh’s commitment to important and often heartbreaking causes has seen her travel to some of world's countries most ravaged by war and conflict. In April 2024, as reports OK!, she became the first member of the royal family to enter Ukrains in the three years since Russia invaded.
Previously, in March 2020, she became the first royal to visit Sudan, just a few weeks after a ceasefire was declared. At the time, she said he had gone to "some very dark places" and heard first-hand stories that left "tears dropping off your chin". It's work like this, along with their strikingly similar looks, that have often drawn comparisons between Sophie, who is turning 60 on January 20, and the late Princess Diana, known affectionately as the Queen of Hearts.
“They were both blonde and both beautiful, of course, but there’s also a parallel between the ground-breaking and often dangerous work that Diana did with landmines through the Halo Trust,” says royal author Katie Nicholl. “Some of the work Sophie does is similar, particularly around raising awareness of vulnerable women in warzones and for victims of genocide and sexual violence. These are gritty topics and not necessarily the sort of thing we might associate with a royal. And yet Sophie is smashing stigmas by shining a spotlight on them in the same way Diana did.”.
Diana was known for addressing topics that were often considered taboo within the upper echelons of society, such as discussing her struggles with bulimia. While possibly not as much of a taboo, Sophie became the first royal to publicly discuss her experience of the menopause when she spoke about losing her train of thought, while on official royal engagement, and hot flushes.
